


Puzzles

by orphan_account



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: (a.k.a people being meanies), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Genderbending, MTF character, closed mindedness, transgender character, tw: catcalling, tw: street harassment
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-17
Updated: 2013-09-13
Packaged: 2017-12-23 19:58:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 6,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/930494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ori never doubted her, even when others did. He saw who she was, and she was relieved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. June 21st, 2010

**Author's Note:**

> After much polishing on this fic, I figured I could post the first chapter at least. The chapters are dated as to demonstrate the "time skips" between them (as the first chapter title won't show up until there are two separate chapterts, the first takes place on June 21st, 2010).  
> If there's anything questionable in my writing or my portrayal of a trans* person, go ahead and correct me: I'm hesitant about this fic, I don't know as much as I'd like to about, well, anything in it. Also I thought I'd written longer chapters but apparently not.

Somewhere in the car shop there was a slight ‘ding’ when Ori entered the door, and a young man - long blonde hair in a messy bun and dirt smudged out on his cheek, but no informative name-tag on his black T-shirt with the car shop’s logo on (a single mountain surrounded by clouds, with the silhouette of a car in front) - came running from one of the back rooms. 

“Hi there, need any help?”

Of course Ori needed help, his car had been making strange noises all week, and he was certain it would die on several occasions, most noticeably when the gas pedal took an extra few seconds to react when he was about to leave an intersection. What had he expected though, it was Nori’s old car, and God knows where he’d been with it, or what he’d done with it.

“Yeah, um, it’s my car, I think something’s wrong with it-”

“Car troubles, eh?” The man chuckled. “Not to worry, we’ll fix ‘er right up for you, however, my shift is about to end.”

Before Ori could say another word, the man stepped toward a door on the side. 

“Kíli! I’m about to go home, can you come out here? There’s a guy who needs help with his car.”

Immediately there was a face in the door opening, a tall woman with broad shoulders and dark hair, pulled from her face only with an old bandana wrapped around her head, wearing a dark turtleneck with rolled up sleeves. She grinned, and entered the room fully, stretching one hand out toward Ori - hand smeared in oil and dirt, but Ori still shook it.

“I’m Kíli.”

“Ori,” he nodded toward her quickly.

“You’re lucky Fíli’s about to go, I’m the better mechanic of us.” The man with with blonde hair huffed at her and went back into the back room he’d been in earlier. “Anyhow, car? What’s wrong with it?”

Shakingly, Ori attempted to explain how he’d been driving home from his job when the car practically cried. Kíli nodded slowly throughout the explanation, popped the hood of the car and reached into it. Ori stood by calmly for a few minutes, unsure if he should let her have some privacy while she was working.

“There, should be better now. Start her up, let’s see if there’s any difference,” Kíli said with a proud grin after an hour or so, approaching Ori who had been reading a magazine on the couch by the reception.

As the mechanic had predicted, the car started on the first try with a faint sound, almost like a cry, but so much lower than before. 

“Oh, that’s incredible!” Ori exclaimed, quite impressed.


	2. October 3rd, 2010

Ori blasted the music loudly in his car, sighing instead of singing along. He was truly in need of some cheering up, having lost two patients in one day - one had been shot by her husband and died in surgery, the other was a man who got a heart transplant, but his body had rejected the new heart. He was only glad he hadn’t been the one who had to tell their families.

He sighed as he exited his car, slamming the door behind him in the parking lot. The apartment key slipped the grasp of his tired hands and he headbutted the door in frustration. Horrible, horrible day. At least it was his last day of work for the week.

“You doing alright? I think you dropped something,” said a voice - deep and slightly hoarse - from the stairway behind him.

Funny, Ori didn’t have any memories of a man with a thick beard, long black hair and a large box living in this apartment complex. 

“No, I’m doing terribly, but thanks for asking.”

“Are you a nurse or something?” the man asked, nodding toward what Ori was wearing under his jacket. “You’re still in your scrubs.”

Ori didn’t say anything at first, he merely stood there, slowly blinking at the man - somewhere in his tired mind he wondered what was in the box - before he bent down to pick the keys up and unlock the door. “Nurse, yes. I’m a nurse. I’m sorry, I need to go, I’ve had a long day at work and I’m in need of some food.”

The door was just closing behind him when he heard another voice, coming from upstairs, speaking with the man in the stairway. “Uncle,” it said - a girl’s voice - “who are you talking to?”

“Oh, just a neighbour of yours.”

Ori did take a few seconds to look out through the peeping hole in the door, only to find a pair of bare feet at the top of the stairway, running up as soon as the man started moving - there had been an older woman living above him last week, he was so sure of it. This one didn’t sound anything like her, and while he only saw her feet, this one didn’t move like the old one either.

Exhausted as he was, he merely shrugged and ventured into the kitchen. A sandwich and a slice of cake (leftovers from his birthday last week, Dori had baked several cakes to make sure there would be enough) was enough for dinner, Ori thought, before passing out in front of the TV, snoring softly for the next few hours.

The first time he woke up must have been very late, right before midnight, from noises in the apartment above. There were raised voices, but he must have slept very lightly to have been woken up by them, as they were too muffled for him to hear words. Then someone opened the door to the apartment above, and the words became less muffled.

“Go away,” there was a high pitched cry. “I’m not talking to you until you stop being so stubborn!”

“I get that you’re scared” - that man with the dark hair, obviously, his voice was loud but he seemed to hold back on his anger a bit - “but you’re not a child anymore. You can’t play dress-up all the time. Grow up and start acting like a man.”

“But I’m _not_ \- I’m not a man, Thorin, so I’m not going to act like one! Now go away!” 

Then there was a loud slam - the door closing - and heavy footsteps walking down the stairs. Ori sighed, relieved that the man had left without harming that woman upstairs further (he at least hoped he hadn’t hurt her too badly already, be it with words or fists). He wondered if he was selfish for staying on his couch, half-asleep, numb, instead of going upstairs to see if she was alright. 

When the apartment complex was completely silent, and no cars passed outside, he could hear the shower running in the apartment above, and a loud, violent sobbing.

Maybe he could bring some leftover cake to her tomorrow, to attempt cheering her up. That wouldn’t be creepy, would it? Just a neighbour, helping another neighbour. With cake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so obviously there are parts I wish I could fix in this chapter but frankly I don't think I can so I'll just leave it here.


	3. October 4th, 2010

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A soft, boring chapter before the next one (which, for the record, is slightly tamer than Tagath's ' _I had a dream, once_ ', which is a must to read if you like that feeling of "I love this story so much but it's trying to rip my heart into pieces")

By the time Ori dragged himself off the couch, into the kitchen and then out the door he realized just how nervous he was about this - the whole idea of trying to make an impression on this woman. Strangers aren’t usually a problem, because often he only met them once, but neighbours could be: he once lived on the same floor as a man who liked to blast music loudly at night, even when he wasn’t home, and when Ori asked him to stop he got a face full of fist and a quick flight down the stairs which ended with a broken arm. Of course, this _did_ solve the problem, seeing as how the police came to get the man later that day (only after Ori returned the favour, of course, leaving the man with a broken nose).

He only hoped this new neighbour wouldn’t be as much trouble. Actually, he hoped that no neighbour ever would be as much trouble as that man.

“Hello?” said the woman hesitantly as she opened her door a bit - just enough to see who it was - only seconds after Ori had rang the doorbell.

“Yes, hello. I live on the floor below.” He reached his hand out to greet her. “I’m Ori.”

She smiled a bit, opened the door a little more and tilted her head before shaking his hand. “Kíli. You look familiar...”

He chuckled a bit - “Well I’m a nurse, if you’ve been to the nearest hospital some time in the past two years you’ve probably seen me around” - and then he recognized those happy, brown eyes and the dark hair, even though it wasn’t pulled from her face this time. “Actually...aren’t you the girl who fixed my car?”

And then Kíli recognized him as well. “I remember that! That was months ago.”

“Makes even more sense that I brought some cake with me then.”

She looked surprised, as if she hadn’t noticed partially eaten cake that he held in one hand until now. “Why’d you bring cake?”

“Oh, I just...wanted to welcome you to the neighbourhood,” Ori lied with a shrug and a kind smile - Kíli didn’t need to know he heard everything last night. “Had some cake left over from my birthday. I guess maybe I should’ve bought a new one but...”

As she let him into the apartment Ori noticed how different she looked compared to the last time he’d seen her: a dirty turtleneck and a pair of very well-used working trousers was nothing compared to a large knitted sweatshirt and a skirt. He also noticed - but tried to not judge - the fact that that the apartment was littered with boxes, clothes, kitchen supplies and various DVD discs. The few books he spotted sat on a shelf by the TV, but other than that there were none. 

“Sorry about the mess...it’s a bit tiring to move into a new place,” she said from the kitchen, leaving Ori awkwardly standing in the living room.

“I know exactly what you mean. Even with my brothers’ help it took weeks to unpack all my things when I first moved from home.” He smiled kindly toward the kitchen, even though Kíli couldn’t see this.

When she returned from the kitchen - two small plates, a pair of forks and a cake cutter in hand - she sat down on the couch (the neat wooden coffee table being one of very few free spaces in the apartment). Ori sat down as well, putting the cake on the table and helping himself to a plate and a fork as Kíli served them both an adequate piece of cake each.

“So, how many brothers do you have?” Kíli asked before taking a bite of her piece of the cake, and Ori could tell she was trying to avoid an awkward silence. 

“Two, both of them older. My car used to belong to one of them, the other baked this cake.” 

Kíli nodded slowly with a slight smile. “He’s very good at baking, this cake is delicious. Do you have any sisters?” Ori shook his head, and she continued. “You’ve already met _my_ brother: that blond guy at the car shop. He’s alright though, probably the only-” She hesitated. “He’s my best friend.”

Ori did wonder what she was going to say, but he decided to not press the matter.


	4. November 1st, 2010

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Despite spending most of the day in a dream-like state, I figured I could post another chapter as I like to have a margin of one chapter, and I now do.
> 
> Warnings for this chapter though: catcalling, street harassment, violence, guys being real meanies.  
> I don't know why I'd write something that included catcalling, it made me cringe just writing it. I think I read/write things too vividly.

Ori had spent the evening at Nori’s apartment along with both of his brothers and found himself having to walk home, leaving the car parked at Nori’s, due to the beer he’d repeatedly been offered, and finally accepted. It was dark, and slightly chilly, but Ori was quite fond of the autumn weather. 

Despite the dark, he could spot the brunette in the red polka dot dress from two blocks away, kneeling on the ground by a person - the person didn’t seem to move, not as far as Ori could tell, and the woman appeared terribly stressed. Due to his curious nature, Ori couldn’t help but run up to them, feeling himself worrying more and more for every step. Was she crying?

“Fíli, get up, we have to go,” Ori could hear her hiss when he got closer, her voice seeming a bit shaky.

He kneeled on the other side of the person lying down - Kíli’s brother, a shallow wound in his forehead and blood clumping in his hair - and she looked at him with a pair of terrified eyes. “Can you help me get him to my apartment? I’m- we can’t stay out here. They said they would be back!” 

“Who said?” Ori wondered, his face going pale as all the worst possibilities went through his head.

“I’m not sure...a couple of guys they were- they hit him in the head with a bottle, so I shoved them and kicked one, and t-they said they would be back!”

Frowning and nodding, Ori got one arm in under Fíli and hoisted him up to support him, Kíli taking the other side. Fili’s feet dragging behind him, they slowly made their way toward the apartment complex, having passed a few blocks when the unconscious blond between them coughed a bit, as if warning them for the men who were following close behind. 

“Oi, you trying to leave, sweetheart?” one laughed, and Kíli tensed up noticeably, keeping a straight face the whole time.

Ori tried his best to ignore them. 

“Hey, we’re talking to you!” 

“Don’t be such a prude, come back.” 

Ori cringed as the catcalling continued, and he realized there was no way the three of them would make it into the apartment complex - especially not alone - if the men kept following them. So he mumbled to Kíli to hold on to her brother, and he turned.

“Back off.” It didn’t look like much, not to them: a book loving nurse (even though he wasn’t in his scrubs) who nervously shouted at half a dozen large men.

And that’s why they were so shocked when - as the first man tried to make Ori move aside, with quite a bit of force - Ori kneed him in the crotch and when the man then kneeled, he hit the stranger over the head with his elbow. 

He looked the next man in the eyes and repeated himself. “Back off.”

This one went down about as easily, and nearly as fast. Black eye, dislocated arm, a blood stain on the pavement. The third time he repeated himself they actually seemed to listen, the lot of them taking a few steps back and staying put as Ori went back to Kíli - he was, at this point, so high on adrenaline that he pretty much lifted Fíli on his own when they hurried to the apartment complex. When Ori suggested they would go into his apartment - it was not only closer, but also held more medical supplies, if Kíli had any to begin with - he expected her to argue, but she went along with it, looking rather pale as they both dragged Fíli to Ori’s bed so he could have a look at the blond’s wounds.

“He’ll be alright, I don’t think it’s a concussion or anything. I’m assuming the bottle broke against his head, considering this piece of glass” - he held up a small, coloured piece of glass which he’d removed with a pair of tweezers while cleaning it - “so he was pretty lucky it missed his eyes. I’ll stitch it up though.”

Kíli nodded, still pale, and sat quietly by as Ori left neat stitches running parallel with his hairline, as well as on the second largest cut, closer to his eyebrow, but only put band aids on the smaller wounds. Lastly, he gently wrapped a bandage around Fíli’s head, leaving him on the bed as he helped Kíli into the living room.

“You look a little pale, is there anything I can do to help? Would you like something to eat, or...?” Ori asked as Kíli sat down on the couch. “They didn’t hurt you, did they? I mean, before, when they hurt Fíli?” He took a seat beside her. “Kíli?” 

She didn’t say anything, she didn’t cry, she only leaned toward Ori and let him catch her in his arms. Eventually, she laid down, head on his lap, and fell asleep to him stroking her hair.


	5. November 2nd, 2010

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like a potato. Or, the way I imagine potatoes feel.

Ori’s not sure what woke him. Kíli was still curled up on the couch beside him, sound asleep, when he opened his eyes. The sun had yet to rise, and the apartment was silent. The silence was only interrupted by shocked gasping and several low noises of something hitting the floor from Ori’s bedroom - he gently got up, trying to not wake Kíli, and soon found Fíli on the floor of his bedroom, a confused look on his face.

He appeared relieved when he saw Ori, obviously recognizing him. “You’re the nurse, aren’t you?”

Ori nodded, although he would rather not be known at ‘the nurse’.

“Good. What happened?” 

“You got hit in the head. Kíli and I brought you back to my apartment, you had a head wound I had to stitch up-” He had knelt to help Fíli up, but when he mentioned Kíli it was as though the blond stopped listening.

“Where’s Kíli? Is she alright? Did she get hurt? Can I talk to her?” Fíli was halfway into Ori’s lap at this point, clearly too worried for his sister to care, so Ori merely brought him to the living room (with a warning: “You really should rest a bit, even though I don’t think you have any brain damage”).

Kíli, covered with a blanket as she had been when Ori left her on the couch, was shook awake by her brother - the joy of seeing him alive glowed in her eyes. “Wha- Fíli, how do you feel?” 

“Dizzy. Are you alright? They didn’t...do anything after I passed out, did they?”

“No, it’s alright. I made them leave, and then when they came back, Ori fought ‘em off.” She smiled up at the nurse before her as if he was a hero, and Fíli looked at the same nurse but with a more critical expression.

“Him? Are you sure? Sorry, you just...don’t look like the type who kicks the arses of those kind of guys.”

Ori rolled his eyes: the fact that he looked weak was not news to him, and his job didn’t make him the least bit more intimidating. ‘Good,’ Nori always said, ‘then they’ll let their guard down and you can hit them where it hurts, if needed’, and then he taught Ori just how to do so.

“I’ll make some breakfast for us,” he said and left his two guests in the living room.

As he entered the kitchen he heard Fíli mumble to his sister "Is that the guy you told me about?"

Kíli's response was but a low hiss: " _Shut up_."


	6. November 12th, 2010

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand this is where the fic quality goes down significantly!  
> Here, have a chapter before I go to work, I haven't updated in some time, sorry about that!

Ori did feel a bit bothered, he wouldn’t deny it. He may or may not have told Nori about the cute girl who lived in the apartment above, and how she looked at Ori as though he was different - ‘but in a good way’, he assured. Nori may or may not have told Bofur, and it was very possible that Ori had now spent the evening in the nearby pub with them, as well as Dori and Bofur’s brother and cousin (Bifur had gotten drunk to the point where he was trying to tell Dori intricate things about space, which Bifur had watched countless documentaries on, and Bombur mostly just patted Ori on the back as if to make the teasing less bad).

“Fíli and Ori, sittin’ in a tree-” Bofur sang, and Nori corrected him.

“No, no, Fíli’s the brother, Kíli’s the girl he’s in love with!” Ori’s brother laughed loudly, and the nurse felt like sinking through the floor.

Bofur laughed along, and cleared his throat. “Again then: Kíli and Ori, sittin’ in a tree-”

“I’m not in love with her…”

Eventually, and not a second too late, Dori interrupted their mocking. “Nori, that’s enough. Leave him alone.” 

While Nori did apologize - as did Bofur - and they really did seem to mean it, Ori felt that it was about time to go home and get a bit of sleep. On the way back, he couldn’t help but think about the whole thing a bit: no, he was not _in love_ with Kíli. They hardly knew each other. Yes, he’d gladly go on a date with her. He wouldn’t mind getting to know her a bit better. Intoxicated and a bit annoyed he promised himself to ring her doorbell and _if_ she answered, he’d ask her out. If not, he’d take it as some sort of divine sign that they weren’t meant to be.

The more he thought about it, the more pumped he got, and when he got back home he ran past his own door and up to Kíli’s to ring the doorbell. He waited, still high on adrenaline and drunk on beer, for at least a minute, and then he - rather disappointed - shrugged and turned around. Just as he did, the door opened.

“Ori? Sorry, I...had to get dressed before I answered the door,” Kíli mumbled behind him, and Ori lost all that confidence he’d had when he rang on her door.

“I- um, sorry.”

Kíli shifted behind him, and he slowly turned back around to find her in a sweatshirt and jeans, but as beautiful as ever (was that the beer doing it’s magic?) and he realized that he shouldn’t have gone up there in the first place, as his legs now felt awfully shaky and weak.

She smiled at him, eyebrows raised in a question. “So? Any reason you came up here?”

“I-I just wanted to...wonder - I wondered...if you would go out with me. It’s alright if you don’t want to, I just...I don’t know.” 

“Yes, of course I’ll go out with you! I’ve actually been meaning to ask-” and then Ori stopped listening to what she said, too drunk and caught up in his own thoughts (‘ _she said yes!_ ’) to concentrate on her words.

It took a good two minutes before he realized he probably should’ve been listening. “Wait, sorry, can you repeat that? All of that, I-I was...a bit...unconcentrated…”


	7. November 13th, 2010

Ori had spent nearly an hour just staring up at his ceiling as he could impossibly sleep after the adrenaline rush from asking Kíli out. He’d asked the clever, charming, beautiful girl who lived above him out on a date. It was a good thing he was lying down, otherwise he would’ve fallen over due to a pair of very weak legs. Only, he became slightly anxious about it, scared she wouldn’t like him if they got to know each other better. Twisting and turning for hours before falling asleep, he woke up right before noon, feeling as though someone had run him over with a car - or perhaps a train - during the night. 

Somehow, his day just passed in a blur. When the evening came, and he began to dress for his date, he realized that he had no idea what he’d done all day. He was aware that he’d watched TV for some time, and played video games, and read a book, but were someone to ask him what he watched, played or read, he would be unable to answer. Ori only hoped he wouldn’t feel so distant while he was with Kíli.

“Ori?” was what followed a firm knock on his door, and he opened it to find Kíli waiting outside, hair up in a bun and a dark halter neck dress on.

“I’m just going to...get my wallet,” he said, eyes glued to her face as he took a step back, and reached toward the wallet and keys resting on the side table. 

Once they were safely seated at the restaurant, orders being taken by a waiter, Ori realized that perhaps he wasn’t the only one who was nervous - Kíli had shakingly mixed up words when ordering, and while she laughed it off, Ori did think she looked like she was beating herself up about it.

“Don’t worry, it happens to everyone,” he said with a kind smile, as she was clearly still thinking about it. “I’m so nervous I’m amazed I could order at all.”

At this, she seemed to relax a bit more, but her face appeared to be stuck in an insecure frown, despite the vague smile on her lips. “I- it’s just been some time since I last went on a date, sorry.”

“It’s alright, it’s been a while for me too.” Three years was not ‘a while’. “So...how come you wanted to be a mechanic? Well, you and your brother both?”

Kíli’s smile, nearly faded for a second, and then returned a bit broader than before. “I don’t know, I guess we both felt drawn to it. I wanted to do something practical, so I guess mechanic was as good as any other practical job.”

“And the repair shop, you both work at the same one.”

“Our uncle owns it,” Kíli replied, frowning a bit as she said it, hands toying with the napkin - Ori wondered just how nervous she was, and whether it was a good or a bad sign.

Trying to not go further into the subject of her uncle (Ori remembered the man in the stairway, whom she’d shouted at to go away) he instead tried to awkwardly tell her a bit about his own job - to which she responded with kind smiles and heartbreaking frowns, depending on which type of story he was telling. When he then figured he couldn’t spend the evening speaking about life as a nurse, he became quiet for a few minutes, and then tried another subject he knew well: films. That went a bit awkwardly as well, in the beginning.

“Thank you for the lovely evening,” Kíli said softly when they reached Ori’s apartment door, arms looped together. “Perhaps, next time...you could come upstairs for a cup of tea afterwards.”

 _What did she mean by that? Doesn’t matter._ “I’d like that.”

And then she smiled, and leaned forward, and kissed him on the cheek, as gently as she possibly could. As Ori then watched her disappear up the stairs with that sweet smile, still looking back at him, he realized just how much his whole body was shaking - he dropped the keys, he stumbled over the threshold, and fell asleep happy on his soft bed, clothes still on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've noticed my stories always reach a certain point when everything seems cheesy and badly written. At least it looks good in my head!


	8. November 18th, 2010

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note that I don't mean to offend any transgender people with the words I've chosen in this chapter, and I've done an insane amount of research to try and get the terminology right, and to gain understanding of transgender people, but I don't know how much it helped.

The second date was meant to take place at the cinema, but Ori was a bit disappointed to find that said cinema was closed due to electrical problems. The disappointment was short-lived.

“If you’d like, we could just watch a movie at my place?” Kíli suggested, before blushing a bit and adding “Or your place, doesn’t matter.”

Ori felt ridiculously happy at this, knowing that she’d cared to find a reason to continue the date. “I’ll gladly watch a movie at your place.”

A quick trip past the convenience store between the cinema and the apartments for the sake of snacks - Ori insisted on paying and Kíli, rolling her eyes, let him - and then a short walk home. Kíli invited him to look through the movies she owned while she went to the bathroom, and by the time she came back, there was a thriller waiting to be watched on Kíli’s TV. 

Upon seeing the movie paused - recognizing it, of course - and Ori waiting for her on the couch, she grinned widely. “Oh, I love this one!”

Ori paid little attention to the movie. To his defense, neither did Kíli. About ten minutes in, he’d dared to put his arm around her - she was already sitting so close that his arm was really just in the way - and almost halfway through, she started glancing at him. She probably thought he hadn’t noticed, so when he managed to look back at her just as she glanced at him, she couldn’t help but laugh and blush a bit. 

“What? What is it? Is there something wrong with my face?” he laughed. 

“No,” she mumbled, “I...I like it.” When Ori didn’t respond - instead, his eyebrows went up in surprise, and his smile disappeared in a confused look - she leaned in a bit, and mumbled even quieter: “Kiss me.”

There was but a moment of hesitation before either of them moved; Ori was genuinely unsure which of them actually closed the distance, but it wasn’t as though it mattered, because all that mattered was Kíli, and the fact that she continued to move closer, until she gently straddled him right there on the couch. When they both simultaneously opened their mouths a bit - perhaps one was simply following the other’s movement - Ori couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed by the heat pooling in his gut as his hands, carefully placed right above her hips, pulled her even closer. 

And then, Kíli’s hand somehow ended up a little too close to his crotch - close enough her fingers brushed against the growing bulge in his pants - and they both pulled back, a bit short of breath. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to put my hand there! I misjudged the distance, I’m sorry!”she gasped, blushing and panting.

Ori forgave her, of course, even though he couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed. “It’s alright. Um, if you want me to leave I can do that. Or, if you want to continue, we can do that too. Or...if you just want to watch the movie, that’s fine too,” he said with a hesitant smile.

She didn’t move, at first. “Actually...I think I should tell you something. And I want to apologize for not telling you sooner, but I don’t know...if you’ve noticed yet.” She sat down beside him. “If, or when, we get intimate...you might find that...I look different than other girls when I’m undressed. I mean, I might not have the equipment you’re expecting me to have...”

Ori stared at her blankly, not quite sure what she was saying, and then slowly said “I don’t mean to offend in any way, I just want to make sure I understand, alright? Are you saying you’re, um, transgender, or...?”

Kíli nodded, slowly, hand clasped over her mouth as if she’d said something she shouldn’t. When Ori had been quiet for at least a minute, merely staring at the wall in deep thought, she nearly started tearing up.

“Please, say something. Anything, call me a freak, but don’t just sit there!” 

“Oh!” Until now, Ori hadn’t realized how long he’d been quiet for, or how she might take it. “No, no, don’t worry! I’m just thinking about things, they’re not important right now.” He came closer to Kíli, wrapping her up in his arms. “You just surprised me, that’s all. I don’t think you’re a freak, I think you’re the most beautiful woman in the world, no matter what!” 

There was a second of doubtfulness during which she just stared at him, and when she seemed to have determined that he told the truth, she buried her face against his neck. “You’re either very kind or a very good liar.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Random pieces of backstory:  
> Kíli let classmates, teachers and such view her as a boy until she started a new school at 18 (I have no knowledge of school systems in other countries, shush up, her family moved) at which point she corrected the teachers when they called her "him", and went through lots of shizz to make the school board understand that she was not a boy! Her classmates thought she was weird, but she could stand it. Her archery practice friends were (mostly) more understanding, because it didn't matter what she was, as long as she could shoot (which she could!).
> 
> Ori is incredibly understanding because he's always been the middle ground between his siblings. Nori pulls one way, Dori pulls the other, and Ori wanders around in the middle, able to see both sides. (Unnecessary comparison that I spent an hour thinking about while working: let's say Nori throws a dice and gets a 6. Dori will say - without looking - that it's rigged, and the dice probably has several sides saying 6. Nori will - without looking - claim it's not rigged in any way. Ori will turn the dice over and throw it himself to see if it's rigged somehow, and then form an opinion based on that.)


	9. November 23rd, 2010

Ori sighed into Kíli’s hair - into the bun she’d put it up in - which he was resting his chin on, head angled toward her as she rested her own head on his shoulder. Although so tired he was almost unconscious, he felt content sitting on the couch with her, simply breathing in her scent. He’d given up on reading his book when he couldn’t concentrate, and he wasn’t sure what Kíli was watching on the TV, but it looked like some sort of competition.

“Am I boring you?” she mumbled. 

He took another deep breath, face buried in that bun - she had so much hair, enough to bury ones face in. “Not at all, I promise. I’m simply enjoying the moment.”

She turned her head a bit, looking up at him. “Are you tired? We could go to bed if you want to, it _is_ starting to get a bit late.”

Ori blinked a few times as he registered what she’d said: “We?”

“Yeah.” And then Kíli hesitated a bit. “Or, um, I don’t mean to lead you on, I just meant sleeping, and cuddling.”

“I didn’t even think you meant sex, really. Cuddling sounds promising though.” He grinned widely at her.

“Bedtime, then,” Kíli laughed.

As she brushed her teeth in the bathroom, Ori ran downstairs to do the same in his own bathroom, before coming back up again. He locked her door, yawned as he walked toward the bedroom, and got a warm feeling in his whole body as he saw Kíli sitting on the bed, patting it beside herself to request that he’d sit down. Ori did as she asked, removing his own pants and shirt as he slipped under the covers - Kíli, however, had changed into an old shirt and a pair of sweatpants to sleep in, but Ori didn’t mind. Ori thought she was beautiful regardless.

Kíli quickly found her way into his arms, laying as close as she could, and Ori felt a sense of peace as everything slowed down and he fell asleep by her side, feeling her breathe against his neck.

Barely conscious, he heard her mumble something. “Hm, what did you say?” he whispered back at her.

“Sorry, I was just thinking...maybe you want to come to dinner at my mom’s house this weekend? She wanted me and Fili to come over, and I think she’s asked uncle over to make him apologize to me…” Kíli mumbled softly into his ear. 

“I’d love to come to dinner with your family.” He realized that he didn’t sound very enthusiastic. “Really. But maybe you could remind me tomorrow, I’m so tired I’m not sure I’ll remember talking about this…”

He didn’t remember if she responded before he drifted off completely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another fluff-fest, I guess úwù


	10. November 26th, 2010

The dinner could have gone significantly better, Ori thought. It started, of course, with Fíli and Kíli’s mother Dís greeting Ori and Kíli. 

First, she gave Kíli a tight hug, and mumbled something to her, and when she turned to Ori he could only get out a weak “Hi, um, hello, I’m...I’m Ori. I, uhh, I’m dating your daughter...I-I guess.”

Kíli seemed to think it was sweet, but her mother looked at him as though he was crazy, and then shook his hand wearily. She continued to give him strange glares for some time. Fíli was already there when they arrived, and - as dinner was a good half hour away from being ready - he happily greeted them and had them sit on the couch with him. Just as Ori was about to offer to help Dís with dinner, the doorbell rang.

This time, it was the uncle, who apparently brought a date (a very unwilling date, based on how displeased he looked by the whole situation - the man did however happily greet Dís, Kíli and Fíli before allowing his face to take the appearance of someone who was utterly bored with everything). Ori then noticed that Dís and her brother shared the same way of glaring strangely at him.

Thorin looked him up and down, shook his hand firmly, then said “Aren’t you the boy who lives below Kíli?” 

“Y-yes, sir,” Ori started, realizing how weak he must have sounded. “We’re...dating.” 

At this, Thorin looked very unimpressed, and once his date had introduced himself as Bilbo, the two went to sit in the dining room, leaving both Kíli and Ori with awkward smiles. Then came dinner, and nobody missed the tension except for Thorin, who somehow got to the subject of "why is Kíli wearing a dress".

"If he's gay, why doesn't he just admit it?" Thorin grumbled, to his plate more than to any of the people around the table. "Why does he dress up and pretend to be a girl, it's just a waste of energy and money."

“Because I’m not gay, uncle. I’m...I’m not a ‘he’ either.” Kíli puffed her cheeks up a bit, but only Ori noticed - Dís tried to start a conversation with Bilbo whilst Fíli just glared at his food. 

Thorin, of course, kept going as if he hadn’t heard what Kíli said at all - Ori grasped Kíli’s hand as she clenched her fists and glared angrily at the table - and this is when Bilbo turned away from Dís. “I think that’s enough, Thorin, you’re not here to fuck things up, you’re here to fix them.” 

“Stay out of this, my nephew needs to hear these things!” the uncle snapped at his date, and he then continued to criticize his niece; Ori had began to whisper things to Kíli - “don’t listen to your uncle, please, you’re an amazing woman” - as she had begun to sob.

“What did you say to me?” At this point, Bilbo stood up, and Ori’s eyes grew wide as he realized how bad it might turn. “I can’t believe you! You don’t see a problem with being gay - because _you_ are - but it’s apparently very hard to accept that you don’t have two nephews, but a nephew and a niece.” Bilbo then threw an apologetic glance at the other’s who sat around the table before he continued to glare at Thorin.

Fíli only gaped at the scene before him, as did Dís, in complete shock of what Bilbo had said. The uncle, however, only hung his head, avoiding the stare of his date. 

“I-I think we’ll leave now,” Kíli mumbled, and Ori nodded, and then the two of them left, apologizing to Dís for doing so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I made Bilbo a very flat character here. I'm sorry I made Thorin an asshole. I'm sorry about this chapter.


End file.
